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Hollywood seems to understand the success of “Barbie” as well as Ken comprehends the patriarchy.
Thanks to Greta Gerwig’s box office smash, an outrageous amount of movies about toys are slated to come out in the next few years — and Randall Park thinks this response is about as clueless as naming a doll “Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken.”
“I feel like, just in general, this industry is taking the wrong lessons,” the “Fresh Off the Boat” alum told Rolling Stone during an interview published Monday. “For example, ‘Barbie’ is this massive blockbuster, and the idea is: Make more movies about toys! No. Make more movies by and about women!”
Eliana Dockterman of Time magazine made a similar point about the appeal of “Barbie” in a piece published a week before the movie premiered on July 21. In it, Dockterman argued that the potential box office success for “Barbie” has “less to do with pink products than its subject and intended audience: Very few movies manage to cater to women without condescending to them.”
She also pointed out that “Barbie” was akin to films like “Legally Blonde” and “Clueless,” which were also written by and beloved by women.
Rodin Eckenroth via Getty Images
“The movie’s basic premise follows a similar trajectory to those cult classics,” Dockterman wrote. “An underestimated blonde obsessed with clothes ventures into the world and learns something a bit deeper about herself. But it’s also been quite some time since we’ve gotten a big studio movie eager to take on that type of story.”
Instead, it seems like we’re going to get a whole lot of movies masquerading as advertisements for toys. Variety reported last month that 14 Mattel properties are in active development, including “Barney,” “Masters of the Universe,” “Thomas and Friends” and “American Girl.”
This also includes a Hot Wheels movie with J.J. Abrams at the helm, Vin Diesel starring in a Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots film, and Lena Dunham writing and directing a Polly Pocket movie starring Lily Collins.
But the absolute weirdest movie Mattel plans to put out is a Magic 8 Ball film — and our reply to that idea is no.